Team Identifies Manual Material Handling Loss Leaders – Manufacturing

July 8, 2016

Janesville, Wis.-based Monterey Mills realized they needed to improve some of their manual material handling exposures. Our UH Loss Control experts recommended creating an Ergonomics Team to identify high-hazard areas and develop engineering controls to reduce these exposures.

This process included:

• Identifying key members of the team.
• Training the team on ergonomics and the ways to control hazards, such as through administrative controls and personal protective equipment.
• Identifying and prioritizing high-hazard areas.
• Videotaping jobs and reviewing them as a group to discuss possible solutions.
• Implementing and testing recommended solutions.
• Reviewing progress during scheduled Ergonomics Team meetings and repeating the process for any newly identified exposures.

While the process took time to establish, Monterey Mills’ Ergo Team is now a self-sufficient group that regularly updates us on their projects, utilizes our United Heartland experts as a sounding board for ideas and has achieved many successes for the benefit of employees.